Union to ballot Barclays staff for strike

LONDON (Reuters) - Staff at Barclays are being asked to back strike action over plans to curtail their final salary pension scheme, a union said on Friday.

The Unite union, which represents more than 25,000 Barclays workers, said its members were "incensed" at last month's proposals.

Barclays Chief Executive John Varley told staff in a letter that the bank's pension fund deficit was worsening and the move was best for present and future staff and its pensioners.

Many company final salary pension schemes are expected to disappear as firms deal with rising costs as people live longer. Oil major BP said last month it would close its final salary scheme for new British employees joining after April next year.

Barclays' UK Retirement Fund (UKRF), which includes its final salary and hybrid funds, had a deficit of 2.2 billion pounds at the end of September, compared with a 200 million pound surplus just a year earlier, it said.

Unite said a strike ballot would be held in August. A consultative poll had indicated 92-percent support.

"Unite members will not stand by as their employer rides roughshod over their retirement security," said Derek Simpson, the union's joint general secretary.

He said the ballot would "send a strong message to private sector employers across the economy."

"Unite will not accept businesses using the economic downturn as a means to erode the important terms and conditions of our members," he said.